HIGH PIT WILMA

Tune to these words,Brian! heh heh![hae ye had a few?!!!!!!]

Sunday nights in the summer,at Hollymount Square,was a hive of activity!

Bob Humble,[a neighbour friend],and my eldest Sister,used to organise games,which ranged from "Hot rice" [wi tennis racquets],Rounders,Cannon..[yes,lolly sticks on top of a bean can,hit by a ball..],"Tiggy-in-thi-bay",Sprinting races aroond thi block,and a game where yi aal stood in a circle,and one in thi middle,and yi had ti try and hit thi middle one wi thi baal!!

Bob went aroond the kerbs in the square,and measured thi distance wi a foot-ruler,[a wood one from skyeull!],....[300mm in new money!],and then did

a bit arithmetic,working it oot that five times aroond the square was near enough to a straight mile,near enough for timing the races aroond thi block!

Of course he was accompanied by a squad of us other kids,eager ti find oot thi results!

This seems so simple a pleasure noo,when yi think back,but at thi time,everything was exciting,cost nowt,and we had loads of excercise,fresh air,and gud aad friendship.

There were similar gatherings through the week also,but early bedtimes for a lot of us meant there were fewer kids taking part,and you couldn't make any noise for the pitmen who were in bed,ti get up for fore-shift,which was usually the midneet shift.

Vic's better half will remember playing two,and three,mebbe four-baaly,bays , skippy,"chucks"..[wi bits of chippings off the road!-nae fancy chaak ones!]

A can vividly remember the lassies playing these games and singing along but a canna mind the words noo!

Us laddies used ti sumtimes play skippy and bays wi thi lassies,cos we were aal gud friends and neighbours.

These were really happy days,and that's just when we laddies weren't playing doon the woods,and the river etc.....we didn't need P.T. lessons at school,we got loads of excercise at yem!!

Alan,one of thi best laughs me and Bill etheridge,[me Marra,and Tom Young...deceased....R.I.P. Tom..],had,was when a canny young timber lad used ti work he'sell', digging and nipping ye from behind,punching yi in thi ribs playfully,and caaling ye a baaldy aad sod....etc!

We warned him that we wud crucify him if he didn't waatch he's step!

So he carried on being a worky-ticket,and he was shocked when me two big Marra's held him doon between the rails of the rolleyway,lying his body alang the sleepers,and aa dogged he's claas by each shoulder,to the sleepers wi rolleyway dogs..[like big thick nails,wi dog's-heads on them,so yi can nail thi rails to the sleepers].

A also dogged he's waistband of he's troosers,and he's trooserbottoms,ti the sleepers,so he was fast,and cudn't move an inch!!

We tuk he's caplamp off him,and went through thi air-doors,leaving him in total blackness,and shouted .."so long,yi impitint young...###### "

Once we got through thi airlock doors,we just stood and listened ti him screaming he's heed off......tha wasn't any danger to him,we weren't stupid aaltigither!

We let him stew a bit,and aa started feeling sorry for thi poor lad,so a tuk he's lamp back in,and cut him free by hacking he's claas away,partly,and let him cut thi rest.

When he caught us up,at thi shaft bottom,he was a total mess,wi aal raggy claas,cos when yi knock a dog reet in,ti thi hilt,tha there ti stay,so he had ti rip hesell oot!!

Thi lad was that gud natured,he telt ivery body in thi queue for thi cage,and STILL towsed us when we were waiting for the next cage ti bank!!!

Years later,we see him doon the river Wansbeck,dog-waakin',and he aalwis tells me Wife the story aboot he's crucifixion!!!

We wud be tuk ti court nooadays by the wimps who divvent knaa wat a gud day's work is,and hoo ti mek thi best of a bad job!!

Thanks Canny lass!

Aav got vivid memories of thi ranch,and feeding thi pigs,and aal thi other livestock!!

Heh heh! Alan,nivvor hord o that one,but ye had me creased up theor!!

Aye,Al,first week doon Bates,as a Deputy,[as you were also],my appointment was as a Gate-end supervisor,in thi tailgate,in 84's face,up in thi Beaumont seam.Half-way alang 8's main belt road,[in thi Beaumont,Alan,not thi Harvey...], Dennis Holiday,[ deceased R.I.P. Dennis..],pulled some lagging boards

away from above wa heeds,between thi arched girders.

Dennis said "Howway Wilma,aal show yi summick that'll mek ya eyes rowl..[roll]..."

We climbed up the packwaal at thi side and got above thi gorda's,and sure enough,me eyes DID rowl!!

A bet that cavity was best part of 30 feet high,or more,and was full of crystals,pentagon,[5-sided] facets,mostly quartz,but lots of other colours,which were ,after thi passing of time from it's discovery,covered in coal dust,and oxidised.

What a sight to behold! At weekends,Me marra's used ti ask me ti fetch some bits oot.."for thi bairns ti tek ti school"....[aalwis for thi bairns...nivvor for thi Wives ti use as an ornament!!]

The floor was composed entirely of thick,multi-coloured crystals among the stone,which was whin-stone,and which was originally Magma,[or molten lava from volcanic action,over 200 million years ago.]

Apparently,it was discovered  when the caunch-men fired the caunch down,one day,around 1982-ish.

After thi shots went off,water started rushing in so furiously,that it was out of control.

The roadway flooded within a very short time,and they rushed extra pumps in,[D12d's...Alan...a few of them,then Mackley turbine pumps],the Management thought they were gonna lose the whole pit to thi water coming in.

After a few days,the inrush started to ebb,and they got hold of thi water levels,to a static pioint.

When the men eventually worked their way in through the water,back to the face,they were treated to the sight of this cavity,only it was freshly exposed,and glittering like diamonds..[which some of the men thought the crystals were....to their disappointment!].

The Manager called in people from the Hancock museum,who called further archeologists in from London,and it was they who determined the age,and origin of this spectacle.

What comes aroond,gaans aroond.......and that cavity is back ti being flooded again,and it'll be flooded for many a year afore anybody ever sees it again.!

Just thinking,Alan,did they caal the Harvey,thi Beaumont,at Bates,cos they caaled the Plessey,thi Hutton!...which aa couldn't figure oot.

 A dea knaa that different pits caaled seams differently,ti others,but Bates caaled the bugga's both names!!

So mebbe we are both reet,and aal apologise for correcting yi earlier in this posting,Alan!

James - see the image attached. We have managed six of them and there names are embedded in the photo, including Derek. Any ideas on the other 5? 

Definately the old Whitley,and a think the player to the right of Derek..["Deg.."] Wilkinson,was called "Hopey"...[nickname]....John Hope,I'm pretty sure of the surname,but a bit unsure of his first name....if you know what I mean.

Deg Wilkinson's younger Brother,Alan,followed  him onto the school team,and is posted on the Six Township's site,they are the spit of each other!

Alan and me sat at the same desk all our school days from infant school,Whitley,and the early days at Westridge,until I did the mistake of going into the Upper Remove class.

HPW,

I am working on a heritage project, can you tell me where the 611AD date comes from and can it be substantiated?

Also who was the recent vicar?

Hi Malcolm!

The 611 AD date is given in a blue "Queen Elizabeth 's Coronation" presentation book,which was given to the senior classes at the Whitley Memorial,and I suppose all other schools,in 1953.

Us younger kids got a lovely Coronation Mug.

Well ,the book was called..." A history of Northumberland",and as I grew up,that book was,to us kids,[who had nowt,and our parents were hard up],the

bible of knowledge!

The Teacher ,Mr Davidson,who took us for social studies,at the old Whitley,also taught us the history of Saint Cuthbert's church..verifying the same date as being 611 AD...[mind,that is the recorded date of the monks settling there and building the earliest form of a meeting place for worship....it might have been made of tree branches like a bird hide,for all we know,but the ground was consecrated then,which is the most important point,not so much the actual building.]

The window to the right of the pulpit,was known as .."the Leper's window",cos those people who were smitten with leprosy,or other contagious diseases,were not allowed into the church!![so much for christianity....Jesus walked among all men,no matter what they suffered from!]

So the lepers had to watch the service through that window.

A canna mind the vicar's name, who wanted to bury the ancient font,but it's only a few years ago,fairly recently,and a kinda think it was thi same guy who changed from being a man,to being a woman,with his Wife's total support...not a secret,the press carried a full article,the T.V media also covered the story,so no rats nest being raked here, a might be wrong on he/she being the one,but anyway,due to it being fairly recent,it shouldn't be too hard to research these facts.

This vicar was an archaeologist,and so wanted to do this for the benefit of future digger's!!!

Anybody who is half-decent,and very respectful of the church,would have been horrified if this person had had his /her way.

Vicar Ward was a very cool guy!

His Son and My Son,were good friends,when they attended the West Sleekburn middle school,in the 1970's.

He allowed the lads who had formed a small music group,to play in the church,at one of the services,a canna mind which service it was,maybe the carol service,but a remember the lads playing the Shadows's "Apache",instrumental,from 1960,as well as other tunes.

It was great seeing guitars being played in church,cos in the sixties,we were regarded by a lot of the religious fraternity,as instruments of the devil...with all that gyrating and hideous noise coming from our speakers......!

Vicar Ward was well-liked by everyone cos he was such a pleasant fella,like one of us,nae snootiness.

Me aauldest Son is noo 45 yrs old.

When we lived in the colliery hoose at West Terrace,in Bomarsund,it was me Son's fifth,[a think!]..birthday,and wor lass aalwis byekked a load o stuff ti gie the bairns a nice little tea party.[this party would have been aboot 1973-ish.]Aal thi bairns in the street came in for the tea party.

Wa neighbour's lovely little lassie,Julie,responded to the game where each kid had ti sing a song,or say a bit o poetry,with this little ditty...[said in broadest Northumbrian...we're NOT Geordie's....right!]........

"Aal uv a sudden,thi big black pudden,came floatin owa thi air.......it missed me Mutha, and hit me Faatha, and knocked him off thi chaior..."!![chair].

We aal fell  aboot laughing,cos this little lassie had a lovely way of speaking,normally,and it soonded queer hearing her tryin ti taak i n wor dialect,even though she was a coalminer's Daughter..!

Obviously her Granny or sumbody aada had larn't hor that one,which aav still got on aad-fashioned reel ti reel tape,alang with aal the kids having a gud time at wor hoose,in the days when it wasn't a crime ti say hello ti ya neighbour's kids,or kick a baal roond wi thi young laddies in the back street,withoot being thought of as a ..........!!!!

Happy days!

Cheers Alan!

That's chinkaplonka,aad love ti hae them Al,a saw one wi Mr Davidson,my aad teacher,at thi Whitley,standing wi thi fitba' team,which was mostly  my mates

and next-door neighbours at Hollymount Square,but a canna find it again! [ it was on the "Six Townships site,which is a great site.]

Can ye  mind Ken Bird?..[NACODS union secretary at Bates,at the latter end....]

Whey he mailed me a pic of my  rhythm group,taken in approx 1963-ish.[maybe a bit earlier,]which wor bass player's Son,who lives in Cambridgeshire,has posted up on the Six Township's site.

Av nivvor seen it before,so check the site oot if ye ain't done so aalriddy,like!!

Cheers Alan,and thanks!

Im new to all this but do you have any photos of john caine? He was a councillor and jp and a family member. Or any other info on him. Thanks

Hi Jack B !

Was Joe Caine the same fella,[maybe John was his middle name?..or vice-versa..]?

In the mid-sixties,Joe,who was a real canny fella,used to book my pop/rhythm group,for Labour party social evenings,at the Market-place club.

In fact ,our very first booking ever,was done by him,at that club.

He used to be smiling  all the time you ever saw him.

Stocky-ish,jet-black hair,very amiable-natured fella.

Sorry I don't have any pics,but I'm sure there must be loads in the council archives,newspaper cuttings etc,and I bet John Dawson is the guy who willl be able to help on this one!

For my 100th post i decided to put this great pic up of my dad and some family members and his friends. Taken at the Choppington High Pit in 1961 i believe.

At the rear is Geordie Wharton, father of Joe, Sep, and George.. Middle left to right, Sammy Neal, Thomas "Tucker†Dawson, my uncle, Bart Dawson, my uncle. Front left to right Leighton Bush, and John Dawson my father.

I think Sammy Neal raced pigeons, i may be wrong, but have an inkling he did.

Hi John!

This pic is on the information board at the entrance to Choppington High Pit road,up Guide Post road,on the left,[for new visitors!]

As a 17-year-old transport lad,at the High Pit,in 1961,I supplied all these men with thier coalcutters,conveyor belt driveheads,cutter cables...etc.

Now the coalfiller on the left,in the middle row,[unless I am getting severe dementia!!],wasn't Sammy Neal,John,it was John Million. 

My Wife has an old Lady friend,whose [deceased] Husband,Tom,was John's Brother,I think.

I showed her a copy of this pic,which I took from the info board [with my digital camera,]and she recognised him immediately,even though she is a very sprightly 80-odd year old lady.

I can remember John Million,and the rest of these fella's,as if it was yesterday!!

Leighton Bush's Son,[billy Bush],was on timber-leading,at the time this pic was taken,in the Beaumont Seam,5th South coalface.

I used to see Billy odd times,long after the pit was closed,walking down the GuidePost road,and also Joe Barratt,the Overman.

Mind,I never knew that anybody ever took a camera down,while I was there,which makes me wonder if the pic was taken in maybe [at the latest] -early 1960,cos I was down the pit in August of that year,after my 16th birthday.

At  that time,there were only 300-odd men at the pit,so if you split that count into four shifts,i.e,back-shift[8-30 am],night-shift.[5-0pm],foreshift [12-0am],

with odd amounts of men in at 6-0am,and 2-0pm,it doesn't take much working out,to find that you quickly got to know every man at the pit !

[less than a hundred men per shift,as opposed to 500 men per shift like in the big pits..]

Gossip travelled quickly in such a tight knit underground community like this family pit,where four Brothers and their Father,and usually a brother-in-law,or Uncle,all filled coal next to each other,on the same coal face![like the Nicholson's,the Dreyer's,the Barratt's...[officials].....etc]

So I think it would have been the talk of the pit,men having their photo taken,and I think I would have known about it,but  as I say,I am at a funny age.......!

Bediesathome,I wish I could place you,cos if you were around in the fifties,did you not work down the High Pit also?

We used to also play quoits with cast-off ponies's shoes,at bait-times,underground,cards,pony-jumping over hardwood chocks stacked up to create the fences.......thundering up the mothergate like hell,bare-back,jumping the fences and getting hoyed off.....crackers we were!!...all black and blue,but the conditions were so bad,these games were like stress relievers,though we didn't think that way,at thi time,we were just young and daft!!

Hi Symtoms,that wasn't Ray Bell,he didn't have a lorry of any kind....more like gaan roond the doors wi a wheel-barra ti get the peelings in!!

Hi Canny Lass!,I told the whole story of the ranch in another posting,but just to re-cap,the original ranch was on the left-hand side of the white lonnen,as you walked up towards the Netherton colliery village from Choppington Station.

Mrs Bell bought the land,incl. the Chapel,on the right-hand side,in later years,around 1956-ish,thereabouts.

Ray was my Brother-in-law,from my age of about  12 years old,in 1956-ish,and I used to help him often with the feeding of all the animals.

Ray and my Sister lived in a caravan beside the chapel for a year or two,till they could find a place ,[proper], to live.

They were so hard-up,at the time,that my Sister used to walk from her caravan,at the top of the lonnen,all the way to Bedlington top-end,down the main street to my Mother's house at Hollymount Square,and back again,after a few hour's visit.

She used to be carrying her baby in one arm,and shopping bag on the other,and on the journey home,her bag was full of coal for her caravan fire!

[about  half a pail-full!]

Can you imagine any young girl doing that noo?

Old rhyme passed from older kids to new starters,at the Whitley Memorial school......[sung to a "daa....da.....da....daa....da", fashion!]

"We hae thi best skyuul,it's med o' bricks and plaster,thi ownly thing that spoils it,is thi baaldy-heeded master".

[referring to aad Nicky,ahem....Mr Nicholson....the tyrant..headmaster..].

Another one was ......."Maizy dotes on Quaker oats,and semolina pudding...!".....[referring to the lovely miss Maize,who we all loved,and used to just laugh at us in the playground when she was on duty,and we all ganged up and sang it loud to her!]

We used to collect the cardboard milk bottle tops,dry them out,and put them on a long string..hanging them from our belt.

The game was called "Skimmers".

You stood one up against the wall,stepped back ten yards or more,and took turns to "skim" a top through the air,like a frizbee,and the object of the game was to be the first to hit the one against the wall, and knock it down.

The winner,collected all the tops that had been skimmed and missed the target!

Simple pleasures in life cost nowt!

Aye Alan,aav named aboot 38 oot of 43 on my class photo,aged 5 years,but the trouble was,as new hooses were built after the war,people shifted hoose,and sumtimes yi just got friends wi a kid,and he was moved away ti another school,it happened a few times in wor classes.

My long-term memory is great,and vivid,but it's me short-term recall that's suffering since a had a heart-attack six years ago,and very ill,[life-threatening],

exactly this time last year,it's the life-saver drugs,have the effect of  short-term memory loss.

A can picture yor aad chep,as if he was standing in front of me,and can hear he's voice clearly...."whey Wilma , a think we'll hae wa bait..."

[wi thi compulsory baccy-chow,in place!]

He was great ti work with,as was he's off-spring!!...heh heh!![back in the mid 1960's]

Aam still writing me book,been on owa three years noo, a bit at a time,but aav got loads of memories of the aad days in aal the pits a worked at,and aal

thi lads a ever worked with,loads of stories,just not enough time ti sit and write,[mebbe a shud be daeing that,instead o' rabbiting on here!!]

As kids,my whole family,[brother and two sisters-older than me],had to help wor aad chep,to hoy the coal in.[when we moved to Hollymount Square,in aboot1948-ish]

He worked at Linton Colliery,and the load was mair stone,and "band",than coal.

It was straight from the coal face,nae washery,and full of Sulpher and Iron Pyrites..["fool's gold"],which sparked and spat cinders oot aal neet.

Thi clippy mat in front of thi fire was aal burn-marks!

Nae fire-guards in them days,not in wor hoose anewheh!

As a crawling baby,at Storey's Building's,I crawled too near the fire,so to warn me off,my Father,[wor aad chep],touched me on the inner thigh

near me croon jewels,and literally burned me,leaving me with a lifelong scar the size of a two-pence piece..no kid!

He would have been drunk presumably,30 years old,in 1945-ish,and to me,having been told how I got this big scar by my Mother,he should have been shot!!

Let's keep to the subject,he used to fill the buckets,and break up lumps of "bandy"coal separating the stone bands from the coal,to be put into the bin!

We kids took the buckets up the long garden path,and Mother would throw the coal into the cree,using the massive lumps to build a wall  at the front to hold the coals from spilling oot.

Linton pit was known to have the worst quality coal in the area,in later life,[1959]I started Choppington High Pit,[hence my nickname!]

and found out that the Beaumont seam was just aboot thi same quality as Linton,so it may have been thi same seam that Linton worked.

Now,by comparison,in 1971,I started Bates pit,up in the Beaumont seam,again,but the seam was only three feet high,of very good clean quality,miles out under the North Sea,whereas,at Choppington pit,the seam was nearly nine feet high,in the 2nd west face,full of stone bands, and down to about two-foot-three inches[and less] in the  north and south faces.[very variable in height ]

Lone Ranger,can you mind the joke about the rabbits up the 2nd west mothergate,we were so close to the surface,[25 feet] when it finally finished!

Can you mind of Jacky Queen,from Guide Post?,he told me a week or two back,that there was a pitfall in the woods up Choppington fields,a while back,and the girders were exposed,he tried to get down into the roadway but it was too blocked with fallen stone.

Wished a knew where it was!!

Thanks Al,me being only three,nearly four,can just remember the older ones,aboot 7..or..8 years,frightening me and my little mates,by shouting here's aad Borkley,[slang!],and sure enough,aad Borkley wud cum charging doon through the trees,he never came owa the pipe,ti wor side,but as a grew up,a got ti thinking,that HE must have hated kids!

Barrington School photograph, around 1947. Quite a small class compared with typical class numbers of to day.

Might have been a small class at Barn'ton,but at the Bedlington village infants School,and the Whitley Memorial,average classes were  around

40 pupils,20 of each laddies and lassies.

I have a class photo taken in 1949,at the Village infants school,which I am on,aged 5 years,and there was 43 pupils in that class!,all well-behaved,and kept right,at home as well,by parents who were at home to teach us right from wrong...."p's...n...q's..".etc!

I've got a copy of a class photo of Barn't'n school,when they had a fancy dress parade for the gala,or some other reason,Alan Dixon,will know better,cos

I didn't attend that school.

I'll try and upload it if I can!

Jimmy had a massive brain haemorrage a few years ago,Al,and survived it.A saw him ootside Gleghorn's a while after,and spoke to him...[me gud aad guitarist marra]...

He looked at me,vacantly,and when a sed yi dae knaa me divvent yi?,Jimmy?....he said,whey aye,it's eh....eh....eh.....[thinking hard and looking mair

vacant,...eh....it's Billy,isn't it..?

A knew then,hoo bad he was,cos HE NEVER....EVER....caaled me Billy,in the years since we first met,in the High main seam,at the A pit in Bedlington,

aroond aboot 196.....the year Bomar pit closed....was it 1966, Alan....?

Titchie Wilson,[thi owaman,]..placed me and Jimmy on Supplies,cos tha was nea piece-work,and we hit it off immediately,both being Shadows fans,and playing their music.

It was sad to see me Marra like this,but we still had a gud crack,noo a divvent knaa if he is still here or not.

That's interesting,Al,never knew about the skeletons ,and the "poltergeist"? activity.

On the subject of Netherton Lonnen,a think it's a disgrace that it was allowed ti be closed doon ti allow toxic waste ti be tipped so close ti the Barrington Burn,for the risk of leaching...which the contractors promised wouldn't happen!!

The lonnen was a smashing place ti walk up on summer's days,and a haven for blackies in the autumn!!

The Burn is filthier noo,than it was when Choppington High Pit was ganning,and we pumped aal the minewater oot the pit inti that burn!

It runs Greeny-Broon aal thi time noo,God knaa's wat's in it,but a bet tha's nae Burn troot in,like there was even up ti thi 1970's.

Can anybody mind Jimmy Mitchell,the pit band-leader?[Netherton pit..i.e.]

He was the Home Guard Instructor,during the war,and was the Uncle of My Brother's Wife,also from Netherton pit village.

Robbie Cowell [?],had the garage on the entrance ti thi village,if my memory is correct,I only knew cos he was my friend's Uncle,and we used ti go up and cadge windscreen wiper motors,off aad cars, ti experiment with,to further our knowledge of the principles and uses of electricity!...[ aged aboot 13years!]

We used ti strip the wire off the coils inside,and use it ti build other projects,not your average 13-year-old s normal activity![ I had friends who,at thi same age as me,were still playing "Jappa's and English"...!!]

Looks mid-sixties to me,haircuts,"modern" carry-cot and wheels,demountable for putting on the back seat of the car,[for those people who had cars ti put thi bugga's on....like!],in the mid fifties it was scalped short back-and-sides![for the lads...i.e...]

"Noo thaa..aat reminds me of thi time when  oor Frankie played for Manchester....?....."!!!!!!

That was his crack every week when it was his session with us.[Frankie Brennan was a great footballer in the fities.....so old Frankie-his Dad,used to tell us!]

Aa alwis liked him,Alan,but you are right,not many laughs and carry-on!

Howw,Alan,aad forgot aboot Geordie Raffery,mind ,HE was a gud crack!

He wud use stories [like me!],ti illustrate thi principles of first-aid,and how you had ti use your loaf and improvise in emergencies......

Like he told us how he attended a lady who had fallen,and had a compound fracture..[bones sticking oot her leg..].

Nae stretchers on the scene,nae splints,so he ripped a fence doon in sumbody's garden,tore his own shirt up ti mek bandages,[as you would...],and got the lady to hospital,and saved her life from loss of blood...[oh and he put a torniquet on...[canna dae that noo...so says the book!!]

Next thing he knew was a summons from the police for damaging the blokes fence!!...[did he mek these stories up or what?!!...it was supposedly a close-knit mining community!!]

Would Mr Berkely have lived at Willow Bridge,Choppington,[the bungalow and land just over the bridge,on the right hand side,as you head for Scotland Gate?]

There was an orchard in the small green field,[called "Borkley's orchard"],and very thickly planted small wood,by the Barrington burn,and a big old house where the bungalow stands at the top of the bank.

In about 1947,when I was three,me,and my older Brother,and two older Sister's plus friends,[and Cousin's],used to play down on the pipe which goes over the burn.[ it was still there last time i looked over the bridge not long ago!]

Now when we crossed  over to the orchard, from Storey's buildings side,we usually got chased by "aad Borkley"....[the name even sounded spooky to us kids!]

What were kids as young as three doing,sitting astride a pipe and hitching over a clarty stream,helped by the older 7-year olds?!!!

We weren't 20 yards away from home.

One of my older sister's fell into the sleck once,[black silt from coal mine water],aged about 4 years,and she was covered from head to foot in the black

sleck,and stinking!

When her little friends took her home,[as I say...20 yards!!],my Granda opened the door and asked who the poor little lassie was,and for the others to get her home straight away,cos..."she'll catch hor deeth o' caad...."...[she will catch her death of cold....!].

The others all chipped in that it was "yor Betty man....".

Mother played hell wi Bett and smacked her backside,before cleaning her up...!!!!

This was in the middle of the war,rations,nae money for food,never mind clothes....hard times...reasons for an irate parent to act irrationateley?.....

...easy to criticise..but that's how it was in those days!

Heh heh! Tony,that's a blast from thi past....Jimmy Milne's Son!!! [a forgot aboot him!]

Aav got 2 Meccano sets,[ Nos 4 and 6 sets] ,combined into the original No 6 box,with instructions and plans for thi models,wat Santy brought me for Christmas,aroond 1954,a wudda been ten years aad.

Santy got them off Jimmy Milne,at his shop next door ti thi Northumberland Arms.

Wat did NVR stand for?[...nice valve radios?....neat valve radios?.. no-valve radios?..Nae valve radios ......heh heh]!!

Alan,can ye mind Jimmy Smout daeing his first-aid mock-ups?

At Bedlington A pit,[for other people-Alan!],there was a mocked-up coal-face,on the surface,where Jimmy Smout used to re-create an accident scene,being a fall of stone from the roof on the "face",and an injured miner lying under the roof fall,with serious injuries,bones sticking out of his leg,etc.

Jimmy was better than any professional film make-up person!!

He would disappear from the first-aid class for a quarter of an hour,then realistically come running into the room,urgently calling for help,his Marra was

trapped in a fall of stone...."howway lads,mek sharp,me marra's badly hurt,ye'll need a stretcher......"[he was a hell of an actor as well!!]

We would take the part,as we were training for,and rush in to rescue the "trapped" miner.

The first time we did this,aged 15 years,straight from a school desk,some of the young lads were almost sick,seeing leg bones sticking out from bleeding

tissues,black and blue bruising all over,swollen flesh......

Jimmy was a smashing fella,very well-liked by everybody.

Alan,did Jimmy also have a magic trick or two,or am I getting mixed up with another instructor at Seaton Burn training gallery?....

No!!!...it's come to me,it was Tommy Aldis [ginger haired bloke],at Seaton Burn pit.

Happy days eh?...little did we knaa wat we were letting wasell's in for!!

Heh heh!....couldn't be two ear-wigglers in our schools...could there?!!

Cheers!

Bill.

Hi Orloff!

Probably was related.

I started Westridge the very first day it opened in 1956[!!!!!],and I didn't know anybody by that name,if they didn't come from the Whitley school.

But in later life,I worked with the Thornton Bro's Dad,Geordie,and Uncle Jackie,down Bedlington A pit,in the mid-sixties.

They came from Bedlington Doctor pit,when it closed.Canny fella's and really gud worker's,and that trait has followed on with Geordie and Keith,who run the business.[old Geordie's Sons]

There was another Thornton,related, who had a car repair,and welding shop,next to the Coffin chapel,at Bedlington,in the 1960's,so young Walter was probably his Son.[mind,I'm not sure about that,just a suggestion!]

Cheers Orloff!

Bill.